After working with the past masters of the French cinema (Renoir, Duvivier, Decoin ,Clouzot) and even Hitchcock ("the man who know too much " 1st version),Pierre Fresnay had the most dismal end of career you can think of for a major artist ; at the time,he was more interested is stage acting and his movies suffered accordingly .
Probably influenced by Sacha Guitry ("assassins et voleur" "la poison" ),all the film revolves around a good idea:Fresnay has unfairly spent eighteen months in jail and he obtains a credit for offenses till he really gets what he deserves ( that is to say offenses which are worth eighteen month imprisonment .)
It may sound inept ,but Guitry would have pulled it off with gusto;although a talented director who made estimable movies , Marc Allégret was not able to rise to the occasion ; even the cast and credits imitate Guitry : it's written backwards and spoken to boot. But the film is incredibly stupid.
